The world's longest-running lab experiment is an ongoing work in sheer scientific patience. read more
The sonic weapon allegedly left soldiers bleeding from the nose and vomiting blood, as they struggled to stand
President Donald Trump's retreat from threats of force as an option for acquiring Greenland capped weeks of policy chaos, as top aides scrambled both to accommodate the president's demands and ease the panic they caused among U.S. allies, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversations.
On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to cut Americans' energy bills in half -- cheaper gasoline, cheaper electricity. He also said he'd "unleash" American energy production, often repeating the catchphrase "Drill, baby, drill." read more
Professor Kari Hong establishes ten reasons why Congress should defund the ERO Deportation Force, the wing of ICE responsible for deporting non-citizens. This article explains that the ERO is wasteful, is unnecessary to keep America safe, and actually hurts Americans and the U.S. economy.
Sonic weapon
en.wikipedia.org
... Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) are weapons of various types that use sound to injure or incapacitate an opponent. Some sonic weapons make a focused beam of sound or of ultrasound; others produce an area field of sound. As of 2025, military and police forces make some limited use of sonic weapons.
Use and deployment
Extremely high-power sound waves can disrupt or destroy the eardrums of an target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. Less powerful sound waves can cause humans to experience nausea or discomfort. ...
Does Utah have no-excuse mail voting, or must voters provide a qualifying reason or excuse to receive a mail ballot?
tracker.votingrightslab.org
... All voters receive mail ballots for general elections.
Utah conducts its elections by mail. All voters are sent a ballot in the mail between seven and 21 days before Election Day. ...
@#7 ... Voters must make this happen, which in 2026 means getting to the polls and not relying on mail-in ballots. ...
States With Mostly Mail Elections (October 2024)
www.ncsl.org
... In mostly mail elections, all registered voters are sent a ballot in the mail. The voter marks the ballot, puts it in a secrecy envelope or sleeve and then into a separate mailing envelope, signs an affidavit on the exterior of the mailing envelope, and returns the package via mail or by dropping it off.
Ballots are mailed out well ahead of Election Day, so voters have an "election period," not just a single day, to vote.
Mostly mail elections can be thought of as absentee voting for everyone.
This system is also referred to as "vote by mail."
- - - Eight states and Washington, D.C., allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington state.
- - - Two states permit counties to opt into conducting elections by mail: Nebraska and North Dakota. ...
Another view ...
Trump steps back from the brink on Greenland. But the damage has been done.
www.politico.com
... After two weeks of escalating threats toward Europe, President Donald Trump blinked on Wednesday, backing away from the unthinkable brink of a potential war against a NATO ally during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Trump's vow not to use military force to seize Greenland from Denmark eased European fears about a worst-case scenario and prompted a rebound on Wall Street. And his declaration hours later after meeting with NATO's leader that he may back off of his tariff threat having secured the "framework" of an agreement over Greenland continued a day of backpedaling on one of the most daring gambits of his presidency to date.
But his continued heckling of allies as "ungrateful" for not simply giving the U.S. "ownership and title" of what he said was just "a piece of ice" did little to reverse a deepening sentiment among NATO leaders and other longtime allies that they can no longer consider the United States " for 80 years the linchpin of the transatlantic alliance -- a reliable ally.
"The takeaway for Europe is that standing up to him can work. There is relief, of course, that he's taking military force off the table, but there is also an awareness that he could reverse himself," said a European official who attended Trump's speech and, like others interviewed for this report, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. "Trump's promises and statements are unreliable but his scorn for Europe is consistent. We will have to continue to show resolve and more independence because we can no longer cling to this illusion that America is still what we thought it was." ...
For starters ...
Senator demands to know status of 'duplicate' Social Security database 'immediately' (September 2025)
www.theregister.com
... A US Senator is demanding answers after a Social Security Administration (SSA) employee who blew the whistle on DOGE dealings involuntarily resigned last month, citing workplace hostility in response to his concerns.
Republican Senator Mike Crapo (it's pronounced Cray-poe), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to the SSA's commissioner, Frank Bisignano, giving him just two weeks to provide answers to concerns raised last month by now-former SSA Chief Data Officer Charles Borges.
The former CDO's whistleblower complaint alleged that the presidentially approved cost-cutting unit had duplicated a critical database filled with taxpayer information, known as Numident, to a test cloud environment that wasn't managed by Borges or SSA, and which allegedly is without any oversight controls.
Numident is used to store records of every person who has ever applied for a Social Security Card in the United States.
Crapo's questions are numerous, but one with a much shorter deadline stands out: He wants to know whether that duplicate database "was accessed, leaked, hacked, or disseminated in any unauthorized fashion," and he wants it "immediately upon receipt of this letter."
"As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, I must take very seriously every allegation made by a protected whistleblower," Crapo added. "Further, given the large amount of sensitive data under SSA's control, I consider the protection and security of PII held by the agency to be a matter of first importance." ...
OK, now, let's also talk about the government data that DOGE may have transferred to Mr Musk's server in order to,among other things, train GROK ...
The government already knows a lot about you. DOGE is trying to access all of it (March 2025)
www.npr.org
... Elon Musk's team within the Trump administration has sought sweeping access to databases that store personal information on millions and millions of Americans.
The General Services Administration, which manages federal real estate, is identifying property to divest, and the agency has abruptly fired more than 1,000 workers and is targeting an overall 63% reduction in headcount at its Public Building Service division.
Politics
DOGE's effort to slash government is now coming for buildings and people who run them
The data collected and maintained by the government isn't just your name, home address, and Social Security number.
Some federal agencies store information that many people don't share even with their closest friends and family: Medical diagnoses and treatment. Notes from therapy sessions. Whether a person has filed for bankruptcy. Detailed income information.
And now, Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has accessed heavily safeguarded databases that store such personal information, raising deep alarm among federal workers and privacy advocates. ...
From the sub-summary ...
OK, I'm going to say, any person aiming a laser pointer at an aircraftshould be appropriately prosecuted.
Laser Safety
www.faa.gov